Hi folks. It's me, Faith. Here's the thing. Apparently, this Proposition 8 -- it looks like it's going to pass. If it doesn't, it'll be a big upset for the evangelicals and Catholics. I am taking the day off on Tuesday, election day, to spend the day in front of the polls helping people who may be confused on what Prop 8 means. I'll also be spending the morning on Sunday - my sacred time for coffee and the L.A. Times and all of the crosswords I can plow through, at the Village. Here I will be training for my day at the polls.
One part of the reason that I am doing this? Yesterday I met with Frank and his partner and Oliver, of course. On Saturday, I will be officiating at their marriage which is such an honor for me. They are a wonderful family. I'm not going to go on and on because I want to save most of that for their ceremony but they are everything a family should be. A safe place in this big world.
That is what a family is -- or should be anyway. A safe place and while I know all the arguments against, I am not able to find even one that should negate the fact that one man, who is legally able to consent to marry a woman, and another man, who is able to legally consent to marrying a woman, should not be allowed to marry one another. There is no slippery slope. Churches will never have to marry anyone they don't want to marry. Ever. I give them their intolerance wholeheartedly. In fact, the Catholic Church is so -- consistent -- they would not marry a man who was quadriplegic to a woman because they would not be able to conceive. So, go on with your consistency -- but marrying by a judge in a chamber or a deputy in an office or by a friend in your backyard is not a sacrament. It is a legal contract no matter how much you would like to keep it in the religious realm, it has not been an exclusively religious contract for many centuries, if ever. And it wasn't before it was.
I hope this makes sense. I don't know how else to say it.
Please Vote No on 8.
One part of the reason that I am doing this? Yesterday I met with Frank and his partner and Oliver, of course. On Saturday, I will be officiating at their marriage which is such an honor for me. They are a wonderful family. I'm not going to go on and on because I want to save most of that for their ceremony but they are everything a family should be. A safe place in this big world.
That is what a family is -- or should be anyway. A safe place and while I know all the arguments against, I am not able to find even one that should negate the fact that one man, who is legally able to consent to marry a woman, and another man, who is able to legally consent to marrying a woman, should not be allowed to marry one another. There is no slippery slope. Churches will never have to marry anyone they don't want to marry. Ever. I give them their intolerance wholeheartedly. In fact, the Catholic Church is so -- consistent -- they would not marry a man who was quadriplegic to a woman because they would not be able to conceive. So, go on with your consistency -- but marrying by a judge in a chamber or a deputy in an office or by a friend in your backyard is not a sacrament. It is a legal contract no matter how much you would like to keep it in the religious realm, it has not been an exclusively religious contract for many centuries, if ever. And it wasn't before it was.
I hope this makes sense. I don't know how else to say it.
Please Vote No on 8.
Stumble It!
The story of Michael and me.
7 Comments:
Amen, sister. I don't live in California anymore, but am encouraging (read: pressuring) all my California family to vote NO on 8. I was recently back for a visit and could not believe the hate-mongering scare-tactic commercials being run by the other side. It made me very sad.
It makes absolute sense.
What doesn't make sense to me is why the religious right must swirl this issue up into something that it isn't.
I am right there with you. If I lived in CA I'd be more than happy to vote against prop 8. Happiness is hard enough to come by in this world. I see no reason to arbitrarily deny it to anyone.
If only we would recognize that we co-opted "marriage" because it was easier than just setting civil contracts as the standard. Marriage should be a church thing, legal partnerships should be a civil thing, and it shouldn't matter in the latter case what the genders of the partners signing the contract are.
I am not able to get married in a Catholic church because I have been divorced -- and you know what? I support this 100%. I know it is not the church's belief that people should divorce. However, I am legally able to marry again in the U.S. at any justice of the peace, and all I want is that same right for any other man or woman.
I really support the right of those who believe marriage is a sacrament to keep that sacrament only for those whom they judge worthy to receive it. I support that because our whole nation was built on freedom to practice religion and freedom to have a state free of religious practices.
But anyone who has ever been divorced knows you don't get that particular sacrament dissolved legally in a house of worship, you schlep your sorry self to family court and wait for four hours until someone bangs a gavel and then your overpriced lawyer argues for your cats. Or wait, that last part was just me.
ANYWAY. The biggest threat to marriage is not more marriage -- it's divorce, plain and simple. You start a proposition to end divorce and I'll throw a party for it.
Until then, I support the right of all people to be married and argue about who cleans the bathroom next.
Grrr. I've got 5 neighbors with Yes on 8 lawn signs. (I'm so tempted to write "Bigots Vote" in black marker on the top of the nice white and yellow background.)
The thing that pisses me off is when you ask one of these fundies why, they can't come up with an answer that makes any sense.
Why the state has any interest in who gets married makes no sense to me either. I mean, churches, whatever, but the state? Who cares?
Omein v'omein. I wish I lived in CA so I could vote NO to 8.
I'm not good at expressing myself on these sorts of things but i've never understood why we all can't just be able to marry for Love and not be limited by religion, race, gender. Love is love.
*sigh*
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